Money laundering case against Pawar: NCP protests at ED office

NCP staged a protest outside the ED office in Mumbai today after party chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew were named in a money laundering case being investigated by ED.

Mumbai: Workers of the NCP's youth wing staged a protest outside the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office today to condemn the registration of a money laundering case against party chief Sharad Pawar and others in connection with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam.

The protestors, led by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) youth wing's state unit chief Mehboob Shaikh, also shouted slogans against the ruling BJP and the government outside the ED office.

Shaikh claimed the protesting party members were baton-charged by police and later detained.

"The ED filed the case against Pawar given the huge response his campaign rallies have received. The ED is being used to stifle voices of the opposition leaders ahead of the election. Hence, we staged the protest outside the ED office to condemn the action," he said.

The ED has filed a money laundering case against Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar and others in connection with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case.

Both Sharad and Ajit Pawar has been registered in the Rs 25,000 Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.

Impromptu bandh broke out in Pune's Baramati district, the bastion of the Pawar family.

An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, has been registered by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The case is based on a Mumbai Police FIR which had named former chairmen of the bank, ex-deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar and 70 former functionaries of the
cooperative bank.

It is alleged that bank officials provided loans to cooperative sugar factories owned by politicians and political families.

The registration of the case comes ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled to be held on October 21.